Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that osteoporosis is included in all Government guidance on medical training.

For undergraduate curricula, the General Medical Council (GMC) set the standards that medical schools are expected to meet in the delivery of their training. This includes specifying the knowledge, skills and behaviours that graduates must be able to demonstrate before gaining a licence to practise medicine. The GMC would expect that, in fulfilling these standards, newly qualified doctors are able to identify, treat and manage any care needs a person has, including in relation to osteoporosis.

The training curricula for postgraduate trainee doctors is set by the relevant Royal College and must also meet standards set by the GMC. Whilst curricula do not necessarily highlight specific conditions, they do emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. Osteoporosis is emphasised in the Royal College of General Practitioners’ e-learning training modules, which have been designed in collaboration with the Royal Osteoporosis Society to support the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis.